Stocking- anb method oei making



Dec. 1, 1925- H. c. LANGER STOCKING AND METHOD OF MAKING Filed Oct. 20. 1924 such stockings.

Patented Den. l, i925.

HARRY C. LANGER, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

STOCKING AND METHOD OF MAKING.

Application filed October 20, 1924. Serial No. 744,'788.'-

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, HARRY C. LANGER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stockings and Methods of Making; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full. clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to full-fashioned stockings and to the method of knitting Full-fashioned stockings are knit upon straight knitting machines and, as is well known, it is the customary practice to knit the stocking on'twoseparate machines known as the legger and the footer, necessarilyrequiring transferring from one machine to the other. In this operation of transferring, it is clear that a slight errorwill produce a second or detective stocking; andthat a slight diiierence 1n the exact shade or quality of the body threads used in the two machines will also produce a second. Further than this, the transferring requires skilled labor and produces a considerable loss of time in the production 0t full-fashioned stockings.

This invention is designed to overcome the above noted defects and objects of such in vention are to provide a method of knitting full-fashioned stockings in which the pro duction of seconds is eliminated, and in which skilled labor and lossof time due to transferring is wholly avoided.

More specifically this invention has for its object to providea method ofknitting fulli'ashioned stockings upon a straight knitting machine which requires no transfer nor change of main body threads, and which continuously knitsthe leg" and instep portion of the stockings without any line. of demarkation, and which knits all portions of the stocking upon thesame machine.

Further objects are to provide a fullt'ashioned knit stocking which has no line oi demarkation between the leg portion and the instep portion, in which the instep portion is knit as an integral continuation of the leg portion, in which heel tabs are knit as a continuous portion of the toot portion of the stocking, and in which the vertical side seams adjacent the heel portion are avoided.

The drawing illustrates various stages in the knitting of the stocking in a diagrammatic manner.

In the drawing Figure 1 shows the body portion or leg portion of the stocking knit down to adjacent the instep portion.

Figure Qshows dropped, stitches on the side portions of the leg of the stocking and shows the central stitches temporarily held upon the needles.

Figure 3shows the heel tabs as they ap- I pear in their relative positions in the knit ting of the stocking.

Figure 2 shows dropped stitches on the knitting of the leg portion and instep portion and foot portion.

Figure 5.is a view corresponding to Figme 4 showing in imaginary lines the outline of the complete toot portion.

Figure 6 shows a further stage in the production of the stocking in which theheel tabs have been looped to the leg portion.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the completed stocking.

The term stocking? .is employed in itsmost generic sense throughout this case and is used to avoid needless repetition.

In practising the method contemplated by this invention the leg portion 1 is knit in the usual manner upon a straight. knit 1 ting-machine and is narrowed,"as indicated at 2, until the'line 3. is reached. At this point a loose row is knit in from opposite sides of the stocking towards the center,

such loose rows being indicated at 4 in Figure 2.

When the knitting has progressed to the stage indicated in Figure 2, the central portion of the stocking-as indicated at 5, is buried beneath the knock-over bits, and the sides are thrown oil, as indicated at 6, on opposite sides of this central portion.

It is to'be noted that when the central portion 5 is buried beneath the knock-over bits that knitting at this point temporarily ceases. The machine is again started and the,heel tabs 7 are knit, as indicated in Figure 3, and are formed on the machine by the same needles which held the cast oii portions 6. It is to be noted that the heel tabs gradually widen, as indicated at 8, and this widening; is done by means of selvage dividers and widening out the machine.

When the knitting of the heel tabs has progressed for a suflicient periodto provide the necessary length of heel tabs, the central portion indicated at 5 in Figure 2 is lifted above the knock-over bits and knitting then progresses from one side to the other side edge 9, as indicated in Figure 4,

thusfor'ining an instep portion contlnuous and integral with the leg portion 1..

The same'threa'd employed in forming the -leg portion is employed in forming the inindicated at 12, is knit into the heel tabs adjacent their firstformed edges. The next stage in the manufacture of this stocking'is indicate-d in Figure 6, in which the. heeltabs 7 have been turned outwardly. The

portions 6 (see Figure 2) of the leg por-.

tion are ripped out down to the loose rows 41 The lateraledges 13 of the heel tabs are marked along a lateral row preferably the second row from the edge, such marking consisting essentially in widening the row by. a suitable toolfor the purpose of looping. Thereafter, the lateral edges 13 of the 'heel tabs, (see Figure 5) are looped along these marked rows to the shouldered portions of the leg 1 formed at the looserows 4c. The stocking is thenfolded and the first knit portions of the heel tabs are ripped out down to the loose rows 12 and looped together, and the stocking-is seamed it in the usual manner to produce'the complete stocking illustrated-in -Figure'f. If

' desired a rear reenforce 14: may be produced in the leg portion and the appropriateportions of the heel tabs in the usual manner,

as indicated in imaginary lines in Figure 7.

It is to be understood that the gradual widening of the heel tabs,'as illustrated in Figure 3, and indicated by theieference character 8, may be formed by other means than by the use of' selvagedivi-ders. For example, the heel tab may be shaped by a more tightly knit portion merging into a gradually looser knit portion. Further the shaping. may be done by what is known as decking. If, however. it is not desired to shape during knitting, obviously, the shape' of theheeltab, as indicated at 8. may be' produced by knitting a heel tab of uniform width and sewing it round-and thereafter cutting off the corner portions to provide the necessary taper.

It will be seen fromthis detailed description that amethod has been provided which permits the continuous knitting'of the instepwith the body portion or leg portion 1, and without removing the stocking from the machine and without employing. the

process of transferring.

It will further be seen therefore that no line of demarkation is formed between the tion of seconds due to errors in this portion of the work.

It is further to be noted that the side" seams adjacent the heel have been avoided as the heel tabs are knit integral with the foot portionand asthe line of looping ex? tends horizontally, as indicated in Figure 7 by reference character 15.

It is to be noted, therefore, that a much more attractive full-fashioned stocking has been produced than has heretofore been possible, and that by the use of the method detailed herewith the service of skilled operators for transferring is wholly dispensed with, and consequently the expense of production has been reduced and the speed with which the stockings are formed has been increased.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that the invention may be variously cembodied and is, therefore, to be limited only as claimed.

I claim:

stitches on opposite sides of the central instep, burying the central instep portion below the knock-over bits of the knitting machine, knitting heel tabs, and thereafter raising the buried central portion of the instep and knitting straight across the heel tabs and the central instep to formthe foot portion.

2. The method of knitting a blank for a full-fashioned stocking comprising knittingthe leg portion to the instep, throwing ofi stitches onopposite sides of the instep, holding the stitches at the central portion of the instep, knitting heel tabspositioned on opposite sides of the central instep portion until tabs of suflicient length have been formed. and thereafter knitting straight across said heel tabs and said central instep portion.

3. The method of knitting a blank for a full-fashioned stocking upon a straight knitting machine having needles andk'nock-over bits, said method comprising knitting the leg portion to adjacent the instep, throwing ofi' stitches on opposite sides of the central portion of said instep, burying the central portion of said instep below the knock-over bits and holding the stitches upon the needles, knitting heel tabs upon opposite sides. of the central instep portion until the requisite length has been secured, raising the buried central instep portion, and knitting straight across said heel tabs and the central instep portion.

4. The method of making a full-fashioned stocking comprising knitting the blank on a straight knitting machine by first knitting the leg portion to adjacent the instep, throwing of: stitches on each side of the central instep portion, holdingthe stitches at the central instep portion, knitting heel tabs located on each side of the central instep portion until the requisitel'ength of tabs has been secured, thereafter knitting straight across the said heel tabs and the central instep portion to form the foot portion of the stooking, turning the heel tabs laterally and looping such tabs to the leg portion on 0p' posite sides of the central instep portion, and seaming the outer edges of the foot and leg portion-to form a finished stocking.

In testimony thatl claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand jatMilWaukee,

in the countyof Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

HARRY LANGER. 

